In the digital age, organizations must manage increasingly large volumes of data. Some organizations may store data within databases to structure and/or organize their data. As an organization adds more data to a database, the corresponding database file may need to grow to accommodate the additional data. However, dynamically changing the size of a database file may cause fragmentation and negatively impact the performance of a database system.
In order to prevent and/or reduce fragmentation, a database system may allow an administrator to preallocate space for a database file. By preallocating large quantities of space for the database file, the administrator may facilitate future growth of the database without unwanted fragmentation. However, preallocated space within database files may impose other costs on computing infrastructures. For example, in the course of managing, preserving, and/or protecting data stored in databases, an administrator may wish to back up, restore, replicate, and/or otherwise copy a database file. Unfortunately, copying a large database file with preallocated space may consume more computing resources than copying a smaller database file without preallocated space. Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies and addresses a need for additional and improved systems and methods for copying database files.